Weekly Update #61

Editor's Notes

Phew!  It is finally over, my marathon month of double-posting.  I am returning to the normal schedule, but thanks again to all our readers for helping us celebrate our one-year anniversary.  You sent us an awesome birthday present: a new monthly page view record of 9,235.  I would love to make an attempt to break 10,000 but I think I might put that off until August.  July is the month of my birth so I am going to take it easy and focus on my own writing.  I have some fiction being published this month, plus some guest posting to do.

The poll for the Short Form Sidewise Award has closed.  The winner, by a huge margin, is "Lee at the Alamo" by Harry Turtledove.  We will have to wait until Chicon for the official announcement, but in the meantime, a new poll is up for the Long Form Sidewise Award.  Cast your vote for the best alternate history novel of 2011.

This week I will be continuing my "The Art of Steampunk" segment and I will have the usual New Releases on Tuesday.  I will also be previewing the next book on my reading list and reviewing The Houdini Specter by Daniel Stashower.  Remember you can see updates from Weekly Update on the Althistory subreddit or our own subreddit (which I primarily use in case one of posts gets down-voted in the other subreddit).

And now the news...

Supreme Court Decision Provides Alternate History Moment

In the era of the 24-hour news cycle, it pays to be the first to report on a breaking story.  So with Americans eager to hear the Supreme Court's ruling on the Affordable Health Care Act (or Obamacare) the major networks raced to make an announcement as soon as the decision was released.

Though ultimately the Supreme Court upheld the individual insurance mandate that was at the heart of the controversy, major news networks like Fox News and CNN at first reported that the Supreme Court had struck down the mandate.  Pundits also took to Twitter, some gleefully tweeting that Obamacare was over.

Of course they were wrong and eventually the truth came out, though it took CNN a full 8 minutes longer than Fox News to realize they had made a mistake.  It was a moment reminiscent of the famous "Dewey Defeats Truman" headline published by the Chicago Tribune.  Surely there are already some alternate historians out there writing and/or posting timelines where the mandate was struck down, but if you want my advice, slow down there Tex.  Let time pass and have last week's news become actual history.  A good alternate history is like a fine wine.  It gets better with age.

Things to do

Readers from the Los Angeles area can check out Rogue Fool Fest 2.  Described as a "DANCE PARTY+ SPECTACLE with a hint of CIRCUS, SEXY & COMEDY set to a STEAMPUNK ambiance" the show is put on by art collective Rogue Artists Ensemble.  It is located at Depict Inc Warehouse and is happens on July 20 starting @ 9 pm.  Tickets and more info can be found here.

Update: Eric Flint

With a new book out, alternate history author Eric Flint has been busy promoting it and preparing for his next release.  He was interviewed on the Adventures in Sci Fi Publishing podcast where he discussed "his work, lawsuits, Amazon’s power, ebooks and how Baen is setting an example more publishers should follow."

Speaking of his work, Geeky Scifi posted a review of 1636: The Kremlin Games calling it "one of the best books in the series and a great addition to this wonderful alternative world that Eric Flint created." A very nice compliment, but Flint is not about to stop one of the longest-running alternate history series (don't quote me on that).  Last week he posted three samples to his upcoming novel 1635: The Papal Stakes (Snippet 6, 7, 8).

As one of the three most prolific alternate history writers, I do not expect Flint to stop writing for a long time, and you should not either.

Links to the Multiverse

Articles

Detroit came close to holding Olympics by David Briggs at Toledo Blade.

The Importance Of The Responsible Use Of History In Fiction by bryantschmidt at Adventures in Sci Fi Publishing.

Books

ALTAFF’s “Books Without Boundaries: Crossover Fiction for YAs and Adults”: ALA Annual 2012 by Barbara Hoffert at Library Journal.

Cherie Priest's The Inexplicables Cover Art, Summary and Release Date by Upcoming4.me.

Coming Soon: Gideon Smith by David Barnett.

Lavie Tidhar: True Confessions of a Book Junkie.

Review of The Real German War Plan: 1904-1914 by Terence Zuber done by Kilobooks.

Comics

Archaia unveils 'Rust vol 2' by Hugh Armitage at Digital Spy.

COMIC REVIEW: Atomic Robo and the Flying She-Devils of the Pacific done by Leo Johnson at Geek Syndicate.

COMIC REVIEW: Titan One Shot done by comicgeekboy at Geek Syndicate.

Comics You Should Own - Rex Mundi by Greg Burgas at CBR.

Games

Alternate History Space Race by Carl at Back Screen Pass.

Clockwork Brain Review by Jennifer Allen at 148Apps.

Dark Harvest: Legacy of Frankenstein reviewed by Tim Franklin at Twisted Tales.

Pokémon Conquest Review – An Alternate History I Can Get Behind by Piki Geek at Next Video Games.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a volunteer editor for Alt Hist and a contributor to Just Below the Law. His fiction can be found at Echelon Press, Jake's Monthly and his own writing blog. When not writing he works as an attorney and enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana.